Developer Proposes Private Hangar at Pittsfield Municipal Airport, Seeks Extension to Six-Month Agreement
Why It MattersThe proposal reflects persistent hangar-space shortages at smaller regional airports, where privately funded ground-lease developments are becoming a route to add capacity without public construction costs.
Leon Shabott of Hangar4Planes, a former tenant at Pittsfield Municipal Airport in Massachusetts, has proposed building a new hangar there after relocating his aircraft to New Bedford because of a lack of available hangar space in Pittsfield. He approached the airport with the proposal in early February. Airport Manager Anita Akor-Yeboah said the project would be privately funded, so the airport would bear no construction costs but would earn revenue through a ground lease.
In early April, Hangar4Planes and the Airport Commission signed a six-month development agreement allowing Shabott to assess the feasibility of constructing the hangar. Shabott is now requesting a one-year extension to that agreement. Akor-Yeboah told the commission that Shabott recently received a permit to fund the foundation of a separate hangar he is building in New Bedford, and his immediate focus is on completing that project before returning attention to Pittsfield.
No projected cost or timeline for the Pittsfield hangar has been established. Akor-Yeboah noted a continued need for additional hangar space at the airport, and said Shabott's goal is also to offer hangar storage to other aircraft owners seeking space.
